The connection is that the Texan refinery was the scene of a terrible accident and the Arctic review might never have happened without another nasty BP accident: the Deepwater Horizon.

The House of Commons environmental audit committee is right to call for a much tighter cross-Arctic safety regime and for at least some part of the region to be cordoned off from drilling too.

This latter initiative would bring the Arctic closer into line with Antarctica: but huge problems stand in the way of it becoming a reality.

Firstly the Arctic is in the hands of sovereign states such as Greenland (still partly controlled by Denmark) and Russia, which do not want outside interference in their "national" affairs.

Closer to home, we have a government that has observer status on the (purely advisory) Arctic Council and has no wish to rock any political boats. In fact it has been a cheerleader of local companies such as Cairn Energy trying its luck drilling in these clear waters.

So the UK government and others will try to push the EAC report – entitled "Protecting the Arctic" – under the carpet, if not the melting ice cap.

But the expert testimonies, the findings and the recommendations, stand. They will be used by those who believe this region – which contains unique species, is experiencing climate change faster than anywhere else in the world, and could hold the key to human survival – is not treated as just another drill zone.

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